Networking between occupational health services, client enterprises and other experts: difficulties, supporting...

This study explores difficulties, supporting factors and benefits of networking to studied enterprises and other network partners (focus on OHS and client enterprises). The study also explores social capital as a resource produced in network relations, and trust as a core dimension of social capital, and trust as a binding element in networking. The study is a mixed methods research (both qualitative and quantitative research materials). The most important supporting factors were: committed and active focus person, teamwork skills, long relationships, familiarity, trust and two-way communication in co-operation, shared goals, norms and values, an equal cost and benefit ratio, and the high quality of services. The biggest problems were the lack of skills to operate in the network and difficulties in maintaining the network, weak communication, lack of confidence, inconvenient size or composition of the network, overlapping information, cliques, nodes and missing links. The benefits were versatile: knowledge and skills accumulate, the network multiplies resources, fluency of co-operation, innovations, commitment and trust increase, good practices expand, and moreover, the quality, many-sidedness and appropriateness of operations improve. Networking is beneficial but demanding. There are many limitations. Networks are not equal for every network partner (inequality in cost and benefit ratio). Networks produce social capital for participants. Successful networking requires trust relations between network partners.